


Clementine

by probablydreaming



Series: SBI Family but there's a baby [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, The roleplay not the real people please
Genre: Awkward but trying Uncle Technoblade, Blood and Injury, Childbirth, Discussion of Abortion, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent Tommyinnit, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Newborn Children, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Past Sexual Abuse, Podfic & Podficced Works, Post Mpreg, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, THESE ARE ALL THE ROPLEPLAY CHARACTERS PLEASE DO NOT TAKE SERIOUSLY, Teen Pregnancy, Tommy just recounts the day Clem is born and it was not a good time for him, Unplanned Pregnancy, Villain Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), don't worry he doesn't do anything, parenting fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:13:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablydreaming/pseuds/probablydreaming
Summary: Tommy with a baby, what will he do?Tommy has a secret baby on the SMP that nobody knows about. That is, until he breaks into Technoblade's with the baby and is forced to come clean about what he's been up to the past year.PLEASE I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH READ TAGS BC IF YOU DON'T LIKE DON'T READI call the baby Clementineinnit because I think it's cute, okay?Also, It’s not talked about explicitly in this, but there is some mentions of past abusive relationships between Tommy and Dream in exile. It doesn't get graphic or smutty, but there is implications. Mostly, this is angst/fluff, but if the relationship thing is too uncomfy for you please don't interact, this isn't for you-DO NOT MENTION THIS TO ANY CC PLEASE IM ALREADY STRESSED ENOUGH GUYS I WILL TAKE THIS DOWN IF YOU DO I STGlinks:discordpodfic
Series: SBI Family but there's a baby [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096883
Comments: 718
Kudos: 1337





	1. Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> Before you leave hate, I know that people are uncomfy with shipping so for all intents and purposes this is about the characters on the roleplay server and not any real people. This is entirely a work of fiction purely to entertain a weird dream I had that I just wanted to get out in the open. I decided to keep character tags on because it's really only implied NSFW so it should be safe, but I rated it M just in case. 
> 
> I CANNOT EXPRESS THIS ENOUGH, THIS IS THE CHARACTERS AND IS NOT IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE REAL PEOPLE. I AM AWARE THAT THERE ARE SOME MENTIONS OF HEAVY TOPICS AND I WANT TO LET EVERYONE KNOW PLEASE CLICK OFF IF YOU HAVE TO. I WILL CONTINUE TO UPDATE TAGS WOTH WARNINGS MENTIONING ANYTHING CC MIGHT FIND UNCOMFORTABLE.
> 
> Also, this was written around Christmas so follows canon until then. So it's not canon compliant really.

The waves crash upon the sandy shore, and the wind rustles through the oak leaves; it would be a peaceful night in the wilderness was there not the piercing loud cry of an infant echoing through the trees.

The child's father was clearly sleep-deprived as he tried to nurse the infant, but she wouldn’t latch. 

“I know, Clem.” the blonde father sighs defeatedly into the air. “I’m hungry, too.”

Tommy was so exhausted, but he knew he couldn’t sleep until he was sure his daughter was fed and ready to sleep, too. 

“Please eat, Clementine.” The teenager begged.

He is sat in his white tent just outside of an abandoned Logsteadshire. Wilbur- or rather Ghostbur- had gone “home” to L’Manberg months ago at Tommy’s request. He had managed to convince the ghost that it was better for him if he had some time alone, and ghostbur had agreed on the condition that he would visit every so often.

After forever, Clementine is able to get what little milk there is and yawns, the crying fit clearly taking up all of her energy. 

Tommy couldn’t wait until she didn’t need breastfeeding anymore. It was difficult, tiring, and, most importantly, dysphoric. But he did what he had to do to make sure Clementine was happy and healthy, even if that meant cringing at his tender and swollen chest.

Tommy hears rustling, almost like someone is approaching, so he quickly puts his daughter back into her makeshift crib and steps out of the tent in the hope that nobody would try to come inside. 

It turns out it was only an animal, so Tommy let out a sigh of relief and stepped back inside only to get his bow and arrow. Finally, he’d be able to get something to eat tonight so that he could get Clem something to eat tomorrow. 

Had he not had to provide for Clementine, Tommy probably would have given up his fight to stay alive a long time ago. Every time he thought about how much easier it would be just to give up and succumb to the wilderness, he thought of the awful feeling of growing up without a parent, and he knew he had to stay alive for her. 

If he wanted to keep up this often hopeless fight, Tommy knew he’d have to move camp soon. It was certainly too cold to live in a tent on the beach with the winter on the horizon. He needed somewhere warm to raise Clementine, at least for this winter. 

Tommy had a fleeting thought of bringing her to L’Manberg where she’d be warm and safe, but he knew that was impossible and quickly had to shake that thought out of his mind. He knew that further out, there could be villages he could loot and use as a home, and even if it meant long hikes, he decided that was the best course of action. 

Tommy spent the night getting ready for a long journey in the morning, as he knew of villages to the northeast far away. 

He cooked the pork in his furnace as he read packed what little things he owned into a leather sack. 

Clementine was still contentious sleeping in her cot, wiggling her fingers mindlessly as she dreamt. Tommy just wanted to curl up on the bed and sleep, too, but he had so much work to do. He needed to make a world where she could sleep this soundly at all times, where his daughter could grow up happy. 

He needed to find that village.

A long night of the baby waking to feed and poop and all of those annoying baby things Tommy loved was finally met with sunrise. 

Clementine was wrapped tightly in a moby wrap around Tommy’s chest. Tommy had mostly packed the books he consulted on the way to keep a baby healthy and happy, as well as packing the clothes he’d haphazardly sewn for her with the one book he had on how to sew. It wasn’t much, but Tommy knew that she needed clothes, and he knew that he wouldn’t fit her. She had fuzzy pajamas to keep her warm since newborn babies can’t have blankets in the crib when they sleep, and she had cute skirts and onesies of patched fabrics that were quickly she was going to outgrow quickly. 

Clem wriggled angrily at Tommy’s chest. Tommy tried his best to soothe the infant, but she longed for a more comfortable position than he could provide her. He had to keep going because it was past midday, and the snow was beginning to fall around them, and if they didn’t find shelter before dark, the two of them would surely die. 

Maybe leaving camp was a bad idea.

It was dinnertime, and Tommy’s stomach was growling for food. He knew that Clementine would be hungry soon, and he wasn’t sure if there was any milk left in him to feed her. He hadn’t eaten since before they left, so there might not be anything for either of them to eat in the tundra. If the hypothermia didn’t get to the pair first, the hunger surely would. 

A smokestack.

Just beyond the hill, Tommy could see a smokestack. For the first time in hours, Tommy was hopeful. He began to run, clutching Clementine closely to his heart as he sprinted across the barren white ground. 

A humble cottage greeted the small family of two. It was seemingly empty, save for the horse kept in a stall in the front. Tommy hadn’t been so happy since Clementine was born. Tommy didn’t even think twice before sneaking inside the cottage. 

Clementine stirred at the new lighting and the warm air. Tommy began to search chests for food and blankets, and anything that could help the pair continue their journey. Tommy had set up some pillows and blankets on the floor to make a cozy area for the baby to spread out on finally, and she was happy to stretch her legs and coo curiously as Tommy bit some golden apples. Tommy smiled and kissed his little girl. 

She had already changed so much since the screaming, barely human-looking creature that he greeted just over a month ago. She looked a lot more like an actual person, for starters, but she was getting bigger every day. She was actually growing some light blonde hair, and her reflexes were improving. 

Clem was happily enjoying “ playing” with her dad on the warm floor. For a one-month-old baby, play consisted of Tommy holding her up by her armpits, so she could "stand" on him, touching objects that made funny noises, and looking at herself in mirrors. 

Tommy quickly learned that little babies are very easily entertained. Anything and everything is new and exciting. Even holding her close to his face and sticking his tongue out as fun for her. 

Tommy heard the footsteps of someone approaching. Tommy acted quickly to hide with Clem behind the wall and hoped the person was not observant. He considered nabbing one of the invisibility potions but decided against it as it was precarious. Not only would the owner notice a potion was gone, but Clem was too young for potions and would still be out in the open, which was dangerous. 

Tommy recognized the deep and resonant voice instantly. 

Of fucking course, he intruded in Technoblade’s house. That’s exactly his luck. 

Tommy tried to make shushing noises at Clementine, who was still under the impression that she and Daddy were playing. She cooed happily back at him, and he frowned. “Clem, it’s quiet time. Ssshhh.”

Tommy would have to work on Clementine’s stealth because she took the opportunity to wail at that very moment. She was upset they stopped playing, probably, and just decided that bawling was the best way to get Daddy’s attention.

Techno jumped at the sound. 

“What the fuck?” The pig-hybrid said. He followed the sound to the basement.

Tommy was trying everything to get Clementine to calm down. “Please, Clem, this is the worst time. Please be quiet for daddy right now, and I will let you scream for as long as you want when we leave. Please.” He bargained as he let out a choked sob. He was convinced that he and his daughter were going to be killed on sight.

Techno’s footsteps grew louder as the man descended the stairs into the basement. The pig noticed the blankets neatly sprawled across the floor and one small toy that squeaked when he picked it up to inspect it. 

The cry was loud now, too, so whatever was making the awful sound was close by. Techno furrowed his brows in confusion, and Tommy gulped. He was going to be found out, and every possible fear struck him. 

Weighing all the options in mere seconds, Tommy decided the best course of action at this point was to draw a sword and try to fend Techno off.

He made sure to secure Clementine tightly to him as he drew the sword and said a prayer to whatever god existed to keep his baby safe. 

Techno was met with a shaky teenager warily holding an enchanted diamond sword at him with one hand and supporting a lumpy black cloth across his chest with the other. Tommy’s eyes were red with tears, and he was trembling, but he was trying to stand tall and look intimidating.

“Tommy? Were you making that noise? Also, wait, what are you doing here? Did you steal my stuff?” Techno asked, confused. He thought he’d be a lot angrier at seeing Tommy stealing his things and threatening him with a sword, but surprisingly Techno was more confused and concerned than anything. 

Techno blade noticed how Tommy looked underweight. He was always skinny, but he was somehow even more sunken and thin. His eyes had bags so purple and deep that they looked like makeup to Techno. Tommy was also never someone to outwardly show fear like he was right now. Tommy was never _scared_ to die before.

“Stand back, Techno. I don’t want to hurt you.” Tommy attempted to sound confident. 

“You couldn’t beat me if you tried.” Techno rationed. It wasn’t supposed to be an insult, but Tommy took deep offense. 

“Don’t hurt me; I’ll leave in peace in the morning. I just need somewhere to sleep tonight, and then I’ll be on my way.”

Tommy never tried to bargain with Technoblade before. His stubbornness often meant insisting he got his way and then some. It took Techno aback to hear Tommy pleading for mercy like this. Something had changed in his little brother. He was different. Tommy had somehow become more mature. 

“Tommy, what the hell are you holding?” Techno questioned. It started to move and make noises again, but not like any animal Techno had seen around these parts. 

“None of your business, bitch!” Tommy defended, and he shifted his hand around the thing. 

“Is it...is it _crying?_ ”

Techno hadn’t realized he’d been stepping closer to Tommy until he was an arm’s length away. Tommy hesitantly put down the sword so he could hold the bundle with both arms. He gently patted the blanket and rubbed circles on it as he whispered something Techno wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear. 

Tommy really needed Clementine to calm down. What Tommy needed was to get her out of the sling so he could care for her. Surely she felt that his heartbeat was quickening and that he was terrified, which made her terrified. He weighed the options in his mind for what he could do.

Tommy could take Clementine out and reposition her, so she was comfortable. That would mean Techno would see his secret and probably want to kill them or worse: ask questions.

He could let her continue wiggling and wailing, but Techno was growing more and more curious, and he would probably try to figure out what he was holding by force. He couldn’t let Techno try to hurt her.

With a desperate defeat, Tommy unraveled the wrap to reveal a red-faced infant clung to his chest. 

Techno had a million guesses for what Tommy was holding, but none of them was a baby.

“Did you steal a baby?” Techno accused.

Tommy now had the baby girl on his shoulder as he swayed and patted her back and hummed something sweet. Tommy was ignoring him to soothe the baby. 

After a moment of repositioning, Tommy venomously responded, “No, I didn’t steal a baby. Why the hell would I do that?”

“Then why the hell Do you have a baby in the first place?”

“She’s mine, fucker.”

If Technoblade knew that he’d find out his little brother had a surprise child by catching them broke into his house when he woke up this morning, he would have fallen back to sleep. 

Techno got a better look at the baby as she seemed to settle. She had Tommy’s big blue eyes, and she had light blonde hair, even lighter than Tommy’s. Tommy seemed to let out a massive sigh as she started to doze back to sleep in his arms.

“Tommy, what the fuck?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protective Tommyinnit has my whole heart. 
> 
> Also Baby Clem Supremacy.
> 
> Hopefully, I'll update later. I really like this and hope someone else likes it, too. 
> 
> :)


	2. Regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the love for the first chapter! I'm so happy people genuinely are liking this. I've got so much planned for this AU!

Tommy made careful steps so he wouldn’t wake the baby. He barely managed to soothe into sleeping. 

“Clementine is my baby, Techno.” He told Techno. In a way, he was also telling himself this. 

Technoblade wasn’t sure what to do other than blink and see if he was still asleep. There was no way that Tommy had gone and acquired a whole child since they’d last seen each other. 

Techno follows as Tommy goes upstairs and helps himself to another golden apple as he situates himself on the couch and very carefully moves the resting baby to be cradled by his legs so his arms could be free. She slept in the crease of where his thighs touched so perfectly it was like the spot was made for her. Sometimes Tommy imagined that it was. He felt like he was made for her in a lot of ways, that he was made to be her dad.

Techno sat awkwardly next to Tommy, unable to keep his eyes off of his younger brother and what he supposed was his new niece. He remembered vaguely when Fundy was born, but Fundy was never this small and helpless. 

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You’ve been in exile for almost a year, and you’ve somehow managed to have a baby? And she’s yours, like adopted or biological?” Techno fumbled on his words as he spoke. He was always so eloquent but seeing this completely unprecedented situation had him scrambling to find words. 

The voices in Techno’s head were all just repeating about how cute the baby was and how Tommy was a good dad. It wasn’t always fair to say Techno agreed with them, but he couldn’t help but agree. Tommy really seemed to have the whole parenthood thing down. 

“Oh, she’s mine, biologically. I carried her. I birthed her. The whole package, you know?”

Technoblade couldn’t imagine Tommy pregnant; that was too weird for him to even think of. He was still his little brother. It was just such a weird concept that little Tommy, who skinned his knees running in the rain and who always had a tooth missing at any given time, was now someone’s Dad. And not only that but apparently, Tommy had created this whole new person _inside_ him. 

“So who else knows?”

Tommy scoffed a bit. “Oh, god, I couldn’t tell anyone. She’s my little secret. You’re the only person that knows and believe me, I wasn’t planning on showing you.”

“So you’re telling me you’ve gone and had a whole baby, and nobody knows?” Techno clarified. 

Tommy nodded and let out a small, half-hearted laugh. “Well, I mean, nobody really comes to visit me anyway. But yeah, I was so afraid that Dream would try to take her away from me, so I didn’t let anyone know about her.”

Techno rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. At the best of times, he wasn’t really good with children. He preferred not to interact with them. Having only feet away from him made him unexplainable nervous.

“Why would he take her away?”

It was a genuine question, and Tommy supposed Techno deserved a genuine answer. After all, he showed them mercy and allowed Tommy to get some food and change up his clothes into something without spit-up and other baby fluids staining it. 

“Dream told me to get rid of her,” Tommy said, no being able to look Techno in the eye as he said this.

“Get rid of? Like, put her up for adoption? Why does he care?”

Another hard question for Tommy to answer. He tried not to think about the painful memories.

“She’s his baby. Well, no, biologically, she’s his. She has no other ties to Dream other than some DNA. Dream wanted me to get an abortion, and I never told him I didn’t go through with it.”

Techno was silent for a moment. He tried to read Tommy’s face. The young boy was wiping tears on his shoulder as he caressed the baby’s forehead with his thumb. 

Techno understands from Tommy’s expression that Dream was not someone that was in their life anymore. He respected that Tommy didn’t want to talk about it with him, but the way Tommy clammed up at his mention made Techno ache with worry. 

“I couldn’t do it. I remember what it was like to be an unwanted child. Before Phil, that is. I could never let my baby feel like that, even if it was too young to feel yet. I’m not judging anyone who does, but I just knew it wasn’t an option for me.”

Tommy continued, “I decided it was safer not to tell anyone. I sent Ghostbur back to L’Manberg, I wore baggier clothing, and I stole some books from various people about the pregnancy, birth, and raising a child.”

“You gave birth alone, then, too?”

Techno didn’t know much about babies being born. Again, he wasn’t a baby fan. He did know that you needed a doctor to help you have a baby and that it was a long and painful process.

In almost a whisper, Tomy admits something that nearly shatters him again, “I thought I was going to die that night.”

He’s quiet for a little bit, letting the words hang in the air before he goes on.

“I’ll spare you the details, but she wasn’t facing the right way when she was going to be born. Usually, the baby’s facing sideways, but she was facing up. It just meant I was pushing for a really long time, and that means you’re at risk of infection. She was born pretty small, but I had a really difficult recovery. For the first few hours after she was born, I had made peace with the fact I genuinely thought I was going to die. I had a terrible fever for the first day, but I was able to recover with some health potions. I had to take small amounts at a time, though, because potions aren’t good for babies, and I breastfeed her. That means I was in pain for so long. I’m okay now, but I’m always so scared I’m not going to be there for her.”

Techno hated hugs almost as much as he hated babies, but he couldn’t help but hug his brother when the tears flowed down the blonde’s cheeks. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” He said. It wasn’t often the two could share a genuine moment like this. Their whole childhood was rivalry for their Dad’s attention and the overall bickering that comes with any brotherhood, and Techno felt sorry he’d never expressed to Tommy how much the boy meant to him. 

“She’ll be six weeks old tomorrow. It’s strange to think about how much time has already passed. I never realized how much the days bleed into each other.” Tommy smiled at his baby, and she dozed on his lap, sat directly in the crease of his thighs. Tommy was afraid to move his legs with the fear that he’d wake her up, so he decided that staying on the couch until she was ready to wake up was his best idea. 

Techno remembered how Phil would always lament that time moved quickly with children. Techno didn’t think that was true because he thought each day was endless and painful, but Phil would always say he couldn’t believe another day, another year, had gone by. 

Phil. Techno remembered that Phil would probably be coming to the cabin by tomorrow. He understood that Tommy hadn’t told anyone about Clementine for fear of them being hurt, but surely Phil could keep this secret. 

“Phil’s coming by tomorrow. I think you should introduce the two.” 

Tommy stammered quickly. There had been so many times he felt like he needed his own Dad to come and help when Clem couldn’t stop crying or when he was worried about everything, and anything like parenthood tends to do to people. He often wished his dad could have been there when he was alone and afraid the night six weeks ago when he nearly lost his last canon life. 

But he knew that if Phil knew, then Ghostbur would know, then Fundy would know, and pretty soon, Dream would find out and come to hurt Clementine. He shouldn’t have even let Techno know his secret. It was too dangerous out there.

“I can’t risk anyone knowing about Clementine. If word got to Dream that I didn’t terminate…”

A large shudder ran across Tommy’s whole body, which shifted the sleeping infant in his lap. Luckily, the light jostle wasn’t enough to send her into waking, which Techno was thankful for. 

“I trust Phil with my life, Tommy. I know it’s scary, but he could really help you, you know?”

Tommy nodded in understanding. “I guess if Phil promises he keeps this between us, I’ll let him know Clementine.”

The brothers were silent for a while. When Clementine started to stir and began to cry, Techno watched in awe as Tommy was quick to understand she was hungry again. 

“She’s a growing girl. She eats a lot.” Tommy explained. 

Techno was embarrassed to see Tommy lift up his shirt and adjust the crying baby to feed. Tommy didn’t seem to care that Techno was watching as she very quickly calmed down after she started to latch. 

Tommy began to talk, but Techno realized quickly that his brother wasn’t talking to him. He was telling the small human that she was doing a great job, and he was proud of her. 

Tecnoblade was brimming with curiosity. There were so many things about human babies he didn’t understand, and he wanted to know what Tommy was doing. “Does she understand you?”

“Hm?” Tommy looked up from his baby like he was in some sort of trance.

“Like, she can’t talk yet, I guess, so does she understand what you’re saying?”

Tommy shook his head. “She doesn’t understand words totally, and she won’t be talking for a while. She knows my voice, though. She gets calmer when she hears me talking, and it’s good for her brain to hear me talk to her so that she starts to develop those understanding skills.”

Techno nodded in understanding. “You know a lot.” 

“I do a lot of reading while she’s sleeping. I did a lot of reading when I was pregnant, too. In a way, her second parent is all my books.”

“You never used to like reading,” Techno remembered.

“I used to be a lot of things. I wasn’t a dad yet. That changes you.” Tommy spoke wisely. Despite being just shy of eighteen, he had maturity and wisdom far beyond his age. Techno always thought Tommy was immature and impulsive. 

“You’ve certainly changed, I think.”

Tommy smiled a bit as he pets the soft blonde hairs on his daughter’s head absentmindedly. “For the better?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Tommy nodded solemnly. “I know it’s selfish, but there are some days where I just wish I could enjoy being a kid again. When it rains, sometimes I just want to run around and play in the mud. But then Clem will cry, and I’m brought back to reality. I can’t risk getting sick because she was out in the cold rain, and I can’t go out by myself because she’s still so little that she always needs me.” 

Techno wasn’t sure why he spoke what he did. “You know, it’s snowing right now. I can watch her while you play in the snow or whatever.”

Tommy looked up at his brother and scanned his face for any hint of sarcasm. 

“Would you really?”

Techno wasn’t sure why he nodded his head. Surely this couldn’t be a good idea. 

“If she’s just asleep, surely it can’t be hard? I just watch her sleep, right?”

Tommy smiled in a way he hadn’t smiled in a while. “I’ll finish feeding her and get her back to sleep, and then you can basically just make sure she’s breathing.”

Surely that couldn’t be too hard, could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. Uncle Techno with a baby, what will he do?


	3. Snow Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in like a day so it's probably all over the place but writing this has given me o much serotonin so I'm gonna keep doing it despite getting my first ever hate comment. (They were actually really nice about it I just still felt really shitty about it after.)

Apparently, feeding Clementine was not a quick and simple task, Techno learned. After burping her and switching which side she was on, Tommy relinquished the baby to his older brother. 

“She’s probably going to be up just kind of staring at things. She can really only see 30cm away from her face right now, so go up close when you want to say hi. I can change her nappy before I go so you don’t have to do that. When she’s asleep, just make sure there’s nothing on top of her like a blanket because she’s too little for that, and then she should be asleep for a few hours. It’s too dark for me to go far or anything, so just give me a yell if she needs me.”

Tommy borrowed Techno’s winter clothes that were very much too big for him. Tommy kept kissing Clementine and asking her to be good for Techno, so Techno finally had to show Tommy to the door. 

“If you want an hour or two to be a kid, use it. Stop doting over her and just go outside, Tommy.”

Tommy sniffled. “Is it weird I already miss her?”

Techno frowned. “Tommy, she’s literally ten feet away. Chill out.” 

“Okay, okay, I’m going.”

Techno shut the door. Tommy thought he’d feel better about this idea than he did. All he could was sit on the steps of the cottage and worry. 

Carl the horse whinnied at Tommy. Tommy, in all of his paternal instincts, went over to take care of the horse.

“Hello.” He whispered to the strong animal. He bumped Tommy with the end of his nose, and Tommy was pushed back a bit. 

Tommy looked out onto the dark horizon as he stroked the soft mane of the horse. He wondered if his friends in L’Manberg missed him like he missed them. He wondered if anyone had come to Logstead trying to look for Tommy only to see that he’d left. He worried he’d left some sort of hint that he wasn’t living there alone, and that somehow that would get back to Dream and Dream would come looking for Tommy and Clementine.

He disassembled her cot and had the parts in his bags, which he would reassemble when they got to their permanent location. He knew all of Clem’s toys and clothes were with him, too, or something he had disposed of yesterday. Even still, he was worried that someone would find out he hid a secret in his tent.

The resolve from Tommy’s dread was to build a snowman near Carl’s pen outside. His fingers felt raw through the gloves, but he enjoyed rolling the white substance into a ball. It kept him focused on things that weren’t Clem, which he tried not to feel guilty about. He knew Techno was right in telling him that Clementine can’t be the only thing going on in his brain, but it was so much easier to put all of his love and attention into her than it was to feel the sadness that came with every other thought. 

Meanwhile, inside, Techno is trying to keep calm as a baby, a literal baby, was fidgeting on a blanket on the floor beside him. She’s not really doing anything, but maybe she should be? 

Techno thought that maybe he shouldn’t have suggested this. Techno just sat there staring at her stomach rise and fall with each breath and wonder if she was dreaming about anything. Every so often her fingers would move and Techno would turn to see if she was waking, but she was simply just using her reflexes. 

He decided to pull out his communicator to contact Phil.

_ Are you up? _

Phil was worryingly quick at a response

_ What’s wrong? _

_ Nothing’s wrong, Phil.  _

_ Then why are you whisper messaging me at 2:00AM? _

Had it really become that late?

_ I have a sort of weird question. _

Phil took a moment to respond

_ I’ll see if I can answer it. _

_ Phil, what do you know about babies? _

_ Babies? Like as in small humans? _

_ Yeah. What can you tell me about them? _

Phil was typing for a while, so Techno put his communicator down for a minute to check on Clementine. She was exactly the same as she was a minute ago.

_ Techno I think I need more context. You definitely already know how they’re made. I could tell you about pregnancy and growing a baby. But I mean little babies are very complicated people. They require a lot of attention and a lot of caring.  _

Another notification

_ What do you need information about babies for? _

_ I’m babysitting right now and I don’t want to fuck it up.  _

Phil was suddenly calling Techno. Warily, he picked up the phone.

“What the hell are you doing with a baby, Techno?”

“Hello, Phil. Nice to hear from you.”

If Phil was there in person, he’d surely be rolling his eyes.

“I’ll explain the whole situation happening right now to you in person in the morning, but I just am supposed to be watching a baby for a friend and I really don’t want to screw it up.”

“Well how old is the baby?”

“I think To- I think her dad said she was a month?” Techno tried to cover up almost saying Tommy’s name. It wouldn’t be fair if Techno told Phil without giving Tommy the chance to. 

“Oh, that’s a little baby. Newborns aren’t very complicated, I guess. They sleep more than half of the day, but they wake up every few hours for food and other needs. They haven’t learned to sleep through the night yet. But that doesn’t answer why her dad wants you to babysit, Techno. I thought you had told me you didn’t like babies?”

Techno felt weird lying to Phil. Sure, when he was a teenager he lied to his dad sometimes, but they always had a close bond and he would feel guilty lying to Phil. 

“Her dad is a good friend of mine. He will be back soon, I just don’t want to ruin my friend’s trust in the meantime. She’s asleep right now, she swaddled which I was told is what she likes, but I just am nervous around her, Phil.” 

Techno heard a laugh through the communicator. “Just let the baby sleep, Techno, and I’m sure her dad will be grateful.”

Techno looked out the window to see Tommy had built a whole snowman and was gathering sticks for its arms. He seemed to be enjoying himself in the cold, even if it was the middle of the night. 

“I’m coming by tomorrow, Techno, and you better tell me all of the details on why you are babysitting a newborn.” Phil scolded. 

“Yeah, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Thanks, Phil.”

Tommy was trying to make the best goddamn snowman on the entire server. If he was going to try and have a break from fatherhood, he might as well make it the best break ever. This snowman was going to be so very PogChamp that Technoblade will think it is a real person. 

Turns out making snow people is harder than it looks, especially if you’re outside in the snow alone. He used to make snow people with Wil and Techno and Phil, but more people makes things easier. 

His fingers started to ache and he was exhausted out of his mind but he was finally happy with his person. He’d equipped them with stick arms and a blue scarf, but his snow friend was missing a nose. 

Tommy was rustling though Carl’s things in the pen to see if there was a carrot that could be used for a nose. 

There was a noise coming from inside the house. It started small, but it grew louder suddenly. 

The teen immediately perked up. He knew that sound anywhere. 

Clem had just started to cry. 

Techno was freaking out. He tried telling her to shush, but she wasn’t very good at listening to him. He was afraid to pick her up, but he got close to her and tried talking. “I’m going to get your Dad, okay?” He asked, voice ever monotonous. 

He didn’t even need to call Tommy, the boy had already run up to the door and opened it suddenly. 

Without a word, Tommy was at Clem’s side and picking her up. 

“She needs her nappy changed. Techno, could you grab my bag over there? The leather one?”

Techno scurried over to the large leather bag. Tommy had gently placed Clementine back on the blanket on the unbuttoned her onesie. 

Tommy didn’t even look in the bag and he shuffled his hand around before pulling out what he needed. 

Techno felt a little embarassed by how much he panicked when the baby started to cry only for his little brother to swoop in and change a diaper without even batting an eye.

“Does that feel better, Clem? Now that you’re nice and clean?” Tommy cooed as he picked up the infant and cradled her.

Tommy swayed back and forth as he hummed something Techno recognized but couldn’t quite name.

“What was it like?”

Tommy shot his head up at his brother. The pig-hybrid was standing against the door frame watching Tommy from a distance.

“What do you mean?”

Techno cleared his throat.

“When you were pregnant. What was it like?”

Lonely. Terrifying. Exhausting. How could he put it into words? Worrying each day that he was doing something wrong. Hoping nobody would catch a glimpse of his stomach as it grew to fit her. He was constantly tired and always hungry. 

Tommy thought back to the day he found out he was carrying Clem. The terrified feeling that his whole world would change. The dread of appearing feminine. The anxiety about telling Dream.

He remembered the night he dumped the “special” potion in the ocean. Dream had shoved it in his hands and begged him to drink it with his dinner. It smelled vile. Tommy watched as the murky indigo potion dilutes into the rocky waves of the sea and washes away. 

He remembers the day he first felt her kick. The scared feeling that this what actually something he was going through with coursing through his veins. The instinct to touch the spot she just kicked and feel her respond again.

Tommy remembered the night he nearly lost his last canon life. The shaking and crying and searing pain until he was finally met with the harsh cry of his daughter being brought into the world.

“It was terrible. But I wouldn’t change it for a thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter is more Grandpa Phil content! Thank you all for the lovely comments. I'm trying to respond to everyone as I get the notification, so hopefully you're all getting those responses! 
> 
> Thank you for the support on those first two chapters. I was really nervous about posting this so I'm really glad people are enjoying it!
> 
> :D


	4. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday like I wanted to. I was at work all day. Hope y'all enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Also, if you're wondering what Tommy is doing when he keeps holding Clem in the wrap, image search "Kangaroo wrap."  
> It's basically how I imagined Tommy held Clem when he first came to Techno's and how he was holding her when Techno first finds him, as well as some times in this chapter, too.

Phil didn’t sleep much that night. His sleep schedule was weird on a good day, but getting an ominous message about Techno babysitting just got him so that he couldn’t sleep. It was so just out of character for him. Surely something was going on if Technoblade was voluntarily hanging out with a person he didn’t know, let alone a person without the ability to take care of themself. 

Sunlight finally greeted the older blonde, and he blinked the sleep from his eyes. He walked to his chests to get on his clothes for the day and to pack the things he’d need to make the journey to Technoblade’s cottage. 

Some bread, an enchanted sword, and various miscellaneous items rummaged through later, and Phil was ready to go. It hadn’t been very long since he’d seen Techno, but even still, he was bursting with excitement to see him. Though Phil had adopted Techno and brought him out of a terrible home life, being only 12 years older meant that they had a complicated relationship, not quite like a father-son but not quite like brothers or regular friends. Whatever it was, it was a very special relationship to Phil, and he enjoyed all of the time he spent with Techno. 

Phil approached the snow-covered cottage just before noon. He noticed that Carl, the horse, had acquired a snow friend since he’d last been there. The person had one of Techno’s old crowns haphazardly thrown on its head, and its face was lopsided. It reminded Phil of when the kids were younger and would build entire snow villages on weekends. It wasn’t something Techno willingly participated in, but Phil smiled nonetheless. 

“I’m glad Techno’s having some fun out here.”

Techno was not having fun, to be clear. 

Clementine woke up every few hours, so he barely got any sleep. Tommy didn’t seem to mind and was quick to attend to her needs before she’d get lulled back into sleep, but Techno was about to implode from insomnia. It’s not like the hybrid slept much anyway, but at least there had been an illusion of peacefulness the night before. 

How had Tommy put up with this every night for the past six weeks?

Now, the Techno sat at the breakfast table with a much-needed cup of coffee. It was black, as per usual. He groaned and pinched his temples. Tommy skipped down the stairs holding Clementine like a kangaroo again; she was tied with some cloth around his chest, so his arms were free to do other things. 

“That’s some of the best sleep I’ve got in a while! Your guest bed is so comfy!” Tommy enthused as he walked into Techno’s kitchen. 

Techno groaned again. “Your baby is almost as annoying as you are, Tommy. How on earth are you so chipper? She woke up like 100 times!” 

Tommy grabbed some bread and began to toast it in the furnace. “Oh, she’s always like that. Usually, though, I’m sleeping on a bed that’s barely qualifiable as a bed, and I’m always cold. So this was an upgrade.”   
  


He kisses the top of the baby’s head. “Wasn’t it, Clem? That was a lot better than most nights, huh?”

Techno sighed. At least Tommy was a lot happier than the last time he saw him. 

Thinking back, Tommy would have been newly pregnant when they last encountered him. He unintentionally had come across Logsteadshire looking for Ghostbur, only for Tommy to scream at him that Ghosbur had left. The bags under the teen’s eyes were prominent, and there were hurried bandages wrapped up to his elbows. His clothes were stained with dirt and grass, and his hair had grown out to almost down to his shoulders. 

If he had known what was actually happening, he wouldn’t have agreed to leave at Tommy’s command. He would have stayed and helped his brother. 

But, alas, Techno was not very good at people. He wasn’t very perceptive of people’s emotions or feelings. 

So, he left. 

And he regretted it. 

There’s a knock at the door that startles both the cabin's current inhabitants out of their bouts of memory. Techno slowly rises from his chair and tells Tommy to wait where he’s stood. Tommy nods and subconsciously goes to hold Clementine, where she is settled strapped to his chest.

Techno peers through the hole in his door to make sure it isn’t an unwanted guest and lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in when he sees it’s only Phil. He looked back at Tommy to smile that it’s alright before opening the door to greet their dad. 

“Techno! How are you!” Phil hugs as soon as the door opens. Techno stands still for a moment before reciprocating, not quite sure how to deal with sudden onslaughts of affection like this. 

Tommy grimaces when he realizes he’s going to have to tell Phil why he’s in Techno’s house. He’s got to come clean about his secret, quietly clutching at his shirt as she starts to fuss.

Phil doesn’t notice Tommy at first. He’s making complete eye contact with Techno once he’s pulled from the hug. “You need to tell me what you’ve been up to, Techno. I’m dying to know.” 

It’s a lighthearted request, but Tommy’s stomach is in knots from worry. When has he ever be worried about talking to his Dad? Would Clementine one day be worried about talking to him? 

“I think you’d better ask Tommy.” Techno calmly suggests, the low resonance of his voice echoing through Tommy’s ears as he takes a shuddering breath. 

“What do you- oh,” Phil asks. He turns his head to see Tommy, his youngest son, sheepishly waving his hand, a deep red blush settling across his whole face. 

“Tommy? What are you doing here?” Phil asks. 

The older man walks over and sees Tommy readjust the baby he’s holding. 

Babies are an utter weakness for him, and he melts just seeing a small baby in a tiny pink onesie blink wildly up at Tommy. 

“Who’s this little angel? Is this who you were babysitting last night, Techno?”

“Phil, this is my daughter Clementine,” Tommy admits as he takes her out of the wrap so Phil can get a better look. 

For what feels like an eternity, Phil doesn’t say anything. He’s admiring how utterly adorable this baby, apparently his granddaughter, is. 

“Tommy.” Phil finally says. It’s not anger in his voice; it’s not betrayal or hurt. It’s comforting, and it’s loving. It’s how Phil would talk when Tommy scraped his knee on the pavement or cut his finger on paper “speedrunning” his homework. It wasn’t pitiful. It was sympathetic. Just one word could relieve so much of Tommy’s fear and dread. Just saying his name was like being hugged by honey; it was soothing in an unpredictable sort of way. 

“Clem, can you say hello?” Tommy moved her little hand, so she waved at Phil. She simply blinked and yawned, causing Phil to put his hand over his mouth and giggle a little bit. 

“She’s so wonderful, Tommy.” 

“I know.”

“Why am I now just hearing about her?”

Tommy doesn’t know why he laughed, but he did. It wasn’t a funny question or a funny story, but he supposed that was his coping mechanism. 

“Hasn’t come up yet?” He tried to play off. 

Phil’s face turned serious as he re-focused his attention from the little baby to his own, nearly grown, baby. Had he really gotten so detached from his son that he failed to realize he had a child of his own?

“I’m serious, Tommy. This is a big deal. I need some explanations, and I need them now.”

“Why don’t we all just sit down?” Techno suggests. 

Once they are all comfortable on the couch, Tommy lets out a stuttered sigh. Clementine supportively wraps her hand around Tommy’s index finger. Perhaps she sensed the fear her dad was riddled with. Perhaps, she was just utilizing the infant reflex to grasp anything that touches the palm of their hand. Tommy liked the think it was a little bit of both. 

“Where do I even begin?” the teenager defeats. 

Phil rubs his son’s hand carefully. “How old is she?” 

“Six weeks old today, actually.” 

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Phil.”

Phil touches Tommy’s chin and adjusts the boy’s face, so they’re making eye contact.    
  


“What happened out there, Tommy?”

Tears can’t stop themselves from coming.

Trying not to give details that Tommy had deeply suppressed, he answers. 

“So much has happened, Phil. I didn’t mean to get pregnant. It wasn’t supposed to happen. I hated it. I feel guilty that someone as wonderful as she is coming from… came the way she did.”

Phil nods his head. “Just because she wasn’t planned doesn’t make her unloved and unwanted. You know that.”

Tommy wipes a tear. 

“I certainly didn’t go out to town one day  _ searching _ to encounter you. Sometimes the best things are unexpected.”

Tommy wants to agree, but there’s a part of the story they can’t understand. There’s a part of the story he doesn’t think he wants Techno and Phil to understand. He’s boiling with guilt and anxiety, even thinking about it. It was his fault for trusting Dream. He shouldn’t have begged Dream not to leave him alone. He shouldn’t have promised he’d do anything to keep his friends safe. He should have just let Dream keep blowing up his stuff. He shouldn’t have asked that Dream do anything else to let him keep his compass. 

He shouldn’t have griefed George in the first place. 

There’s a long bout of silence. It isn’t a burdensome silence. It’s peaceful. Phil and Techno pull Tommy into a hug as he silently weeps. They don’t know the innocence he’s mourning. They don’t understand what’s made him from the confident and obnoxious boy to the fragile and scared one they’re holding together. They don’t know, but they support him nonetheless.

“I wish you had come to me about this. I would have helped you with everything. You have a family that loves you, Tommy. You know that, don’t you?”

He looked at his Dad, a sympathetic smile and smile lines decorating his kind face. He looked at his brother, who didn’t interrogate him and was quick to offer him stay in his home. He looked at his daughter, who gently slept in the crook of his left arm. 

“Yeah, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy has *trauma* oh dear. I had more I was going to write, but this got way too long so I decided I'd put that in the next chapter and hopefully can post that soon since it's already half-written from what I cut out of this. 
> 
> Also, youu all have such fun ideas for this AU that I'm considering making so many more spin-offs and Au's based on this series. I've already planned out how I'm writing this story right now, so it could take me a little while to get that up. Let me know some ideas you all have, I love reading them!
> 
> As always, thank you for the support. It really means a lot to me!


	5. Smiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be part of the last chapter, but I figured I'd split them into two smaller chapters instead.

Tommy is vague in telling Phil about his pregnancy with Clementine. Phil can gather through the tears and the stutters and the long and painful sighs that he’s been raising Clem completely alone for the past six weeks. Tommy told him about the odd craving for dried kelp he had and that seeing a baby move inside him was the most alien experience he’d ever had. He explained that it wasn’t safe for them to stay at Logstead, so he started to travel until he stumbled upon Techno’s house. 

“This is just a temporary place. I don’t mean to intrude on you, Techno. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as we’re too much for you.” Tommy fumbles. 

Phil is quick to interrupt. “Tommy, we’d love to have you stay as long as you need. I’ll help with Clementine, and maybe Techno can build you guys a room near mine, and we can help support you.”

Techno nods. “It’s gonna have to be a soundproof wall, probably, but I think I’m actually warming up to her. I can already tell she’s going to be a sword-fighting prodigy. I need to be there for that to happen.”

Tommy can’t help the smile form across his face. “Okay, okay. But no swords until she’s like, at least 10.”

“What about five?”

“Are you insane?” Tommy argues.

Phil laughs, “We’ll discuss sword training at a later date. I need to eat something before your old man can’t be there for her sword training.”

Tommy asks Phil if he’d hold Clementine while he went to the bathroom before lunch. 

Phil cries. 

She’s still totally exhausted from a sleepless night, but she stirs as she gets readjusted to a new person’s cradle. She makes a noise of curiosity as she takes in the new face. Phil’s beaming from ear to ear as he gets her comfortable in his hold. 

“Aren’t you just the sweetest? You’re just too cute. Look at you!” 

It had been so long since Phil held a baby. The last time he had must have been when Fundy was a baby. He adopted Tommy as a seven-year-old and adopted Techno and Wilbur at older ages, so he didn’t have them at their baby stages. Even Fundy, being a magical creature on his mother’s side, aged faster than a human and wasn’t a baby for very long. (Phil never really understood Sally’s side of the family, but he was quick to support Wilbur and Fundy as he would be with Tommy and Clementine.)

Phil just wants to hold her and snuggle her forever. Every single emotion courses through his veins when he looks that this baby. It’s so surreal how fast people can form a connection with another person. Phil has only known Clementine all of an hour, and he knows he’d do anything for her. He’d do anything for his kids, sure, but they were all grown and didn’t need him as much anymore. Clementine was so small, even for her age, and he knew she needed protecting.

He didn’t quite know it, but Tommy was longing for protecting, too. 

The family gets settled into the domestic haze of raising Clementine together rather quickly. In the week since Phil’s arrived back at the cottage, they’ve settled into a rhythm catering to Clementine’s needs and each other’s.

Tommy can’t even begin to express how grateful he is to Phil and Techno for what they do for him. Phil takes the shifts with Clementine mostly. Techno still is awkward around the baby, but his aloofness only makes her more interested in him. 

Every time he’s near her, she reaches out for his dangling gold earrings. Techno accidentally let her tug at it when he wasn’t paying attention, and she wouldn’t let go of him. Phil thought it was funny, but Techno couldn’t see the humor in it quite yet. 

The family is sat in the potato garden. Phil is harvesting some honey from the bees while Techno digs out potatoes. Tommy’s sat cross-legged on the floor, holding Clementine, so she’s upright and bouncing on the grass in between his legs. 

Tommy’s smiling and babbling to the baby when she flashes a smile in response. 

“Holy Shit,” Tommy whispers. He repeats himself.

“Clem, Clem, do that again.”

Phil and Techno have stopped their menial tasks to look at Tommy grinning wildly at his baby. 

“What’d she do, Tommy?” Techno asks quizically. 

Tommy merely shushes him and starts asking the baby to do it again. 

Suddenly he’s laughing and smiling and turning her around. 

“She’s smiling! She hasn’t done that yet, but look! She’s smiling!”

Phil cups both hands over his mouth and muffles that she’s too precious. Techno is not nearly as impressed, but he can’t help smirk a bit when he sees his niece smile. 

Tommy cannot stop smiling for the rest of the day. 

Clementine is very quickly outgrowing her clothes. Tommy tries to make her more clothes, but he’s running out of supplies. She does have a new light blue onesie to match the “Antarctic Empire” attire that Phil and Techno wear. Tommy is very jealous, so they make him some, too. 

“I probably have more fabric and other things back in L’Manberg,” Phil suggests. “Or if I don’t have any, I’m sure I could get some from somewhere.”

Tommy is hesitant to agree. L’Manberg is a few hours journey each way, plus the time it would take to gather the things. Phil would be gone all day, and Tommy would miss him terribly. 

Not to mention the fact that even thinking about L’Manberg made Tommy’s heart ache in longing. He hadn’t been back there in nearly a year. It’s been that long since he’s seen Tubbo, Ranboo, Niki, and all of his friends back home. 

That wasn’t home anymore. Now, this house in the tundra was home. 

Still, it made Tommy said to think that Clementine has never seen L’Manberg. He wonders if she ever will. 

“I’ll leave at sunup, and I should be home just after dusk,” Phil tells his family. 

He hugs Techno and Phil before kissing Clementine’s cheek. 

“Don't you three do anything stupid while I’m gone. Especially you, Clem. I don’t want you to be in too much trouble when I get back.” Phil teases.

He looks up, “Seriously, though. I’ll miss you guys. Stay safe, okay?”

The journey is difficult when the wind blows in the direction you’re going, but before long, Phil has made it to the beautiful wooden boardwalks and lanterns of New L’Manberg. 

After discovering he barely has any sewing fabrics, he goes to seek out Eret. Surely Eret would have something that he could use to make Clementine some new onesies. 

Eret does, in fact, have some soft strawberry patterned fleece and rainbow flag cotton. It’s not very much, granted, but Clementine should be small enough that it will work. He thanks Eret profusely before seeing what more he can salvage from L’Manberg. He’s not telling anyone, but Phil isn’t planning on coming back soon. 

He quite enjoys the life he’s made in the tundra. His sons are his granddaughter are a great company. If you squint, it’s almost like there isn’t sadness in the world. In their little bubble, everything is tranquil and beautiful. He’d much rather keep in that bubble than face the regret and sadness that comes with L’Manberg and the grim memories each block carries. 

He’s almost done rummaging the chests and removing anything of importance when there’s a ringing of his doorbell. It repeats. It is ringing angrily at him. 

With an annoyed sigh, he goes to answer the door. 

Quackity, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Fundy stand impatiently on his front step. They’re dressed in aprons stained an unfortunate shade of red, and their faces are hardened and unmoving.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We getting into the plot now, boys. 
> 
> Let's see how fast I can speedrun writing the next chapter.


	6. Interrogations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I kept you on a bit of a cliff-hanger. Hope you weren't writhing in agony waiting for this short chapter.

“You can ring it once. I’m right here.” Phil sighed. He was unnerved by the red-stained clothes and faces of the four people crowding his small stoop. 

Fundy spoke up, “Hi Phil, how are you doing?” He seems unusually chipper tone is off-putting to Phil. 

“Uh- what’s with the getups?” Phil asked bluntly. He would really rather be anywhere but here at this exact moment, and he really can’t afford losing any more daylight so that he can get back to the cabin soo. 

When the men give vague and hurried responses, Phil knows they’re lying.

He doesn’t know why he doesn’t just shoo them away. He doesn’t know why his mouth is opening and why words are coming out of them, “Listen, it’s raining come inside. Come inside it’s clearly not washing the blood off you.” 

Once everyone is settled inside, or as much “settled” as a nervous man and four ominous soldiers can be. General Quackity, the head of L’Manberg’s military force, leads the regiment into Phil’s house. He begins to speak in a no-nonsense tone. 

“We have a simple request. We are looking for Technoblade. I don’t think you should ask why. I don’t think you should make any questions. We’re looking for Technoblade, and you as a citizen of L’Manberg and per request of the President, we demand you tell us where Technoblade is.”

Because of course that’s why they’re here. 

When Phil doesn’t answer the question and only deflects back to the ridiculous outfits of the people, the General repeats himself.

“Just tell us where he is, you're a citizen of L’Manberg we’re trying to bring justice to our country. You should care about this as much as we care about it so Phil, tell us where Technoblade is.”

Phil knows he can’t tell them where Techno is. The anger and resent in their voices is palpable. He knew that their intentions were not good from the moment they appeared at his doorstep. 

Giving out Techno’s location also means giving out the location of Tommy and Clementine. While the army wasn’t actively looking for them, revealing their location could be dangerous for Tommy. He knew that Tommy was on the run and that Clementine could be in danger if these men with axes and bloodstains came hunting her down. That was really not how he wanted his day to go. 

“I’m not- I’m not gonna tell you.” Phil says without any hesitation. “He’s changed his ways. He’s not the same person you’ve met.”

“That doesn’t change what he’s done to the fucking country.” Quackity interjects. His words are laced with venom. 

“He spawned withers right where your house currently stands.” Tubbo motions to the floor. While he is the President of L’Manberg, it well known that he’s not the one really in charge. 

Phil remembers that day every night. He knows deep down that he will never forget it. It was the day his son died, how could he forget?

“Yeah I mean, water under the bridge.”

“Literally” Fundy laughs. It pains Phil in some sort of way, because when Fundy laughs he reminds Phil of Wilbur. 

“This is not a request, this is a demand.” Quackity snaps.

“Where do you think this-this loyalty I have for country exists? I am not loyal to this country at all. Also, Techno and me go way back and we do not rat out on each other.”

The hardened general grimaces and runs a finger along his axe. “Philza, we tried to do this the civil way, if you’re not gonna help us do it the easy way, we;re gonna have to do it the hard way. “

Phil asks, “What’s the hard way?” He has a sick feeling it’s not going to be an answer he likes.

“Alright fellas, fellas, look through each fucking thing.” Quackity commands

With word from their military commander, the soldiers break Phil’s barrels and rummage through their contents. 

“Oh you are taking the piss.” Phil whines. He’s pretty sure he’s got everything he needs in his packed bag at his side, but this is an invasion of privacy nonetheless. 

Fundy uproots Phil’s flowers and smashes in some windows. That’s when Phil knows that this isn’t any normal investigation. These soldiers, these butchers, they are not playing by the rules. They are out for blood. 

The President confiscates Phil’s bag and begins to dig around the fabrics and baby items stuffed in. Surely Tubbo is suspicious of why Phil has all of these things when something glimmering purple shines beneath something. He pulls it out, expecting something netherite, only to find a compass. An engraved compass in Phil’s bag. 

“Hey! Hey Big Q! Look what I found.” Tubbo exclaims. He forgets about the baby toys in the bag and focuses on the glowing compass cupped in his hands. 

Phil realizes what compass that is. It’s the compass that leads to Techno’s base. It’s engraved “Techno’s compass” so that Phil knows how to return. Tommy tried writing “Tommy and Clementine” on it as well, but markers on metal lead to smudging that was nearly illegible at this point. 

“Shit.”

“Bruh.” General Quackity whispers when Tubbo hands the compass to him. “Philza Minecraft! What the fuck is this?”

“Yeah what is it?” Ranboo asks.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing at all.” Phil tries to play off. Perhaps if he refuses the knowledge that this compass leads to Techno’s base, then maybe they’ll believe him. 

It’s the only shot Phil has left. 

“This?” Quackity laughs, “This is a compass called ‘Techno’s Compass’”

The soldiers laugh in reply. They surely aren’t as dumb as Phil hoped they’d be. 

“Why are you carrying this around, Philza?” Quackity laughs as he steps closer. PHil’s blood runs cold as ice but his mouth is as dry as a desert.

“It just takes you to, like, a potato farm somewhere.” Phil says. He isn’t lying. 

“Philza, never forget that you weren’t cooperative with us today. “We told you were willing to do this the easy way, but you made it difficult.” 

“It could be considered treason.” The young president recites. This feels rehearsed almost, like they had planned for Phil to not give up the location. Perhaps they knew of his loyalty to his family and mistook it as loyalty to country. Perhaps they would have gone to even more extreme measures to pry Technoblade’s location. 

“Mr. President, I think that deserves some sort of punishment.” The general muses. He’s excited about this, it seems. 

Tubbo smiles something sinister. “I imagine you will be put under house arrest.”

Phil can’t believe what he’s seeing. This was the sweet little boy that used to hang out at their house when he didn’t want to go home. This was the boy who cried at the sight of blood. This was the boy who would stay up late every night on a call with Tommy. 

Now he was a barely 18-year-old President. He worked tireless everyday to push papers and sign documents. His white apron was stained in blood of an unknown source and he didn’t bat an eye. He hadn’t spoken to his best friend since the friend was exiled by his own hand. 

Tommy and Tubbo had both grown up too quickly, Phil concludes. 

“Ranboo, do you have the monitor?” Tubbo motions to the half-enderman. 

“I do, I do.” The tall man rustles through his pocket before pulling out a shiny iron cuff with a blinking green light. 

With not gentleness, Fundy straps the bracelet to Phil’s left ankle. It’s heavy and uncomfortable. 

“If you try to leave your house, this will shock you. Literally.” Fundy explains. 

“You’re dead to me.” Phil whispers. Fundy flinches at the words, but he continues to push buttons and set up the cruel device. 

The Butcher Army retreats from Phil’s house to continue their quest for vengeance. 

Quackity spit on Phil’s doorstep on his way out. 

It’s like rubbing salt in a wound. 

That’s when Phil decides to send hurried messages to Techno. He knows that Tommy, Clementine, and him need to be prepared for what is coming. 

Techno was playing table-top chess with Tommy when his communicator went off. Tommy always takes forever on his turn because he is desperate to win at least  _ one  _ match, so Techno has no reservations about pulling out his communicator to read the message. 

His stomach ties in knots. His blood runs cold. 

_ they know where you are. get ready, old friend.  _

Techno quickly types back three question marks. 

_ They found the compass _

_ Quackity and a gang _

_ They have netherite _

Techno stands up with a start. “Tommy, we need to go.” 

Tommy pouts, not yet grasping the direness of the situation. “You’re quitting? You’re such a baby! Not even Clementine is such a sore loser!”

When Techno simply goes to lock the door, Tommy fears that Techno is being serious.

“Techno what’s wrong? Who messaged you?” Tommy asks.

“Phil.”

“What? What does Phil want.”

“Stop asking questions, Tommy. Some people from L’Manberg are trying to hunt me down. They know I’m here. They’re just coming for me, though. They don’t know you and Clem are here. Keep it that way.”

“But I can help fight! I’m strong!” Tommy whines.

“I don’t care if you can! Clementine needs you to not do anything stupid. If you  _ died _ , then that’s on me. I can’t have that on my conscience. I’m not really in the mood to explain to that little girl about how she got to be an orphan.”

Tommy wants to protest again, but he knows that was going to be the end of their conversation. 

Tommy picks up Clementine and rocks her close. He whispers softly to her that everything is going to be alright. She only pouts in response. 

Techno is trying desperately to brew potions before he meets his impending doom. Maybe he can fight them off. Surely he’s strong enough. Maybe even more now that he’s got something to fight for. 

He replaces his golden crown with a heavy purple netherite helmet. The weight on his shoulders isn’t just the straps of his chestplate, it’s the fear that these “butchers” would somehow try to hurt Tommy and Clementine. It’s the worry that they’ve already done something awful to Phil. 

Figures emerge through the forest. They brandish teal and sparkling axes and solemn expressions. 

Techno swallows back his anxiety and focuses on the task at hand. 

“I’ve got to protect my family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I-I, my hand slipped and I wrote all angst for a whole
> 
> Yo, we're getting a whole ass community with this AU, huh? Let me introduce myself! I'm Emma and I use she/her pronouns. I'm in Eastern Standard Time in America, but I have a whack sleep schedule so sometimes I post late at night sometimes. 
> 
> If you couldn't already tell, I used to be a writer for a lot of Marvel Fanfictions back in the day, (Phanfictions REALLY far back in the day) but this is my first MCYT work and I'm so excited! I've been writing on AO3 for 3 years already and writing on Wattpad for almost 5.


	7. Attacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had like a million ideas for how I wanted this chapter to go, but this way ended up working the best with how I want the next chapters to go, so this is what will actually get published. Maybe I'll turn the other ideas into oneshots of something down the line, who knows?

“Technoblade, you probably know what we’re here for.” The General muses. The Butcher Army's four soldiers stand in the snow at the foot of Techno’s stone staircase impatiently. 

“Kill them now. Can’t let them get to Clem and Tommy.” The voices bite in Techno’s ear. He tries to ignore them and opts for a pacifist route instead. 

Play dumb.

“Why have you guys come all the way over here to my humble abode?” The hybrid asks as he climbs down the d\stira to reach their level. 

“You need to pay for your war crimes,” the president responds. 

“Well, that’s in the past, man. Alright? That was a different Technoblade. I’m a changed man now. I’m in retirement. I’m a good person now, Tubbo.” Techno responds. 

He really has changed so much in the past year. In the last week, even, he’s changed so much. Being an uncle evoked a caring side of him, he couldn’t quite comprehend. It had all been different from his nephew, Fundy, who was born when Wil was already out of the house and in the Dream SMP lands when Techno was still at Hypixel. He never met a baby Fundy. All he knew of his nephew was the sadness that came with losing Wilbur, and the anger Wil felt toward Fundy’s betrayal. 

Being with Clementine had really softened the voices, too. They always cheered when she did anything cute and were so careful about her needs. They hadn’t asked for blood in over a week. It was progress. 

Today had reverted the voices back to the bloodthirsty demons that haunted him.

“Techno, you exploded L’manberg with fucking withers,” Quackity argues back. 

“You literally spawned withers everywhere!” Tubbo joins.

Techno tries to explain to them that he really has changed, but Quackity only shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Technoblade, as much as you’ve changed, you’ve got to be brought to justice for that. And there’s nothing I can do to change that.”

Techno lets out an angry breath. He doesn’t know how much longer he can keep the voices at bay. 

“I have gone through so much effort over the past year to change my violent ways. I have reformed, alright? Right now, the voices want me to smite all of you. They want me to scatter your blood. But I’m not going to do that, okay? Please. Please don’t make me kill all of you. Please just leave.”

_ Blood for the Blood God. Technoprotect. Keep Clementine Safe. Kill them before they kill Tommy.  _

“You know what? Show us around. Why don’t you show us what you’ve been up to.” 

“I mean, there isn’t much to see. This is my house. These are my bees.” 

Tubbo gets very excited about the bees, but Fundy grabs the back of his shirt and tells him not to get distracted. 

“We want to go inside,” Fundy demands. 

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Techno says as he rubs his hands together. 

“Techno was not going to let you get out of here fucking in one piece. We’re gonna fuck you up, Techno. it’s either gonna be the easy way, or it’s gonna be the hard way.” 

Inside, Tommy hears this. It’s muffled from the wooden walls, but he can hear Quackity threaten his brother clear as day. 

Has to do something if Techno is to live. He can’t be alone again. It would be too painful. Techno is from, but four people in netherite surely would beat him, Tommy believes. 

He knows he can’t just sit idle anymore. 

After all this, Tommy can’t be alone again. He’s lost so much in the past year. He lost Wilbur; he lost his home; he lost his innocence. He can’t lose Techno, too. 

Tommy puts Clem back in her crib. He kisses her gently and tells her not to worry. “I’ll be back, Clementine.” He smiles. Tommy wonders if that’s true.

Tommy bursts out the door to see four men in bloodied aprons surrounding Technoblade. Techno’s sword is raised, and he looks ready to strike. There are empty potion bottles broken on the ground beneath him. 

“Stop!” He yells. 

Miraculously, everyone turns to see where the noise is coming from. They’ve all stopped to see Tommy stood at the top of the staircase with tears in his eyes. 

“Tommy?” Ranboo asks. 

“Tommy, I told you to stay out of this.” Techno grumbles. 

“I’m not letting you kill them, and I’m not letting them kill you,” Tommy explains. 

“Tommy, go back inside. Now.” Technoblade warns. 

“Tommy.” Tubbo whimpers. He’s already welled up with tears. 

Tommy can’t look at his former best friend. The emotions were so complicated. He exiled him and allowed Dream to watch over him. He didn’t come to his party. Tubbo left Tommy alone. 

“Tommy, we thought you died,” Fundy explains. 

“What?” Tommy asks.

“Yeah, Dream told us you were dead,” Quackity explains.

“D-Dream?” Tommy questions. His breathing is quickened, even thinking about the masked man. 

“Dream said that last week he went to your tent and that you were gone. He told us you killed yourself, Tommy.” Tubbo cries. 

“Tommy’s been here.” Techno calmly confirms. The mood around them has shifted dramatically.

Tommy is hyperventilating. “Dream went to my tent?” 

“Yeah. It was like he was looking for something when he was there. He showed Tubbo around to try and give some closure. Ghostbur hasn’t left his house in days.” Fundy sighs. 

Tommy feels like his ears are filled with cotton, and his lungs are drenched in diesel. Dream was looking for him. He was in the tent. Surely Dream would become. Dream would try to hurt him again. Dream. Dream. Dream. Dream. 

Techno is startled when Tommy screams and collapses to the floor. He assesses the boy for any wounds, but he’s unharmed. Tommy, nevertheless, is backed up against the wall clutching his chest, shaking violently.

“Oh my god, Tommy!” Tubbo exclaims.

“Tommy, what happened? Techno questions. 

Tommy doesn’t respond. He’s only thinking about Dream. He’s remembering all of the times Dream would slap him or touch him or blow up his things or threaten him or...

“I think he’s having a panic attack,” Ranboo says. 

Everyone has dropped their weapons to make sure Tommy is okay. Tommy was not the target of the attack. They wanted to have Technoblade pay today. 

“Tommy, Tommy? Can you hear me, Tommy?” Technoblade asks. 

Tommy finally nods his head shakily. 

“We should bring him inside. The cold isn’t going to do him any good.” Ranboo suggests. 

Techno takes a heavy breath and picks up Tommy. He’s a lot heavier than picking up Clem, obviously, but Techno’s large and strong enough to pick him up all the same.”

“You guys should probably stay outside,” Techno warns when Ranboo, Fundy, and Tubbo try to follow Technoblade inside immediately. 

“Dude, we want to make sure Tommy is safe. We’ll hold a truce right now. He’s not the person we’re after.” Tubbo assures. 

Technoblade is conflicted, weighing the pros and cons of each situation. He figures the easiest way to not get killed is to do what they ask, so he ushers the Army trying to kill him moments ago into his house. 

Tommy’s now sat on the couch underneath a blanket. He’s still crying, shivering, and rocking himself, but he seems calmer. 

The Butcher Army notices toys thrown about the floor, but they don’t think it’s a good time to question it.

Ranboo has brought Tommy a glass of water, which he slowly sips from. He’s content having something to focus on doing, which is drinking this water.

Tommy speaks. It's soft at first, but Techno hears him.”

“I need Clem.” He whispers. 

“Tommy, I’m not getting Clem. Do you remember that we have guests?”

Ranboo assures Technoblade, “If he wants like a stuffed animal or something, we aren’t going to judge. Right, guys?”

Techno shakes his head. 

Tommy pleads again, “I need to know she’s alright.” 

“Tommy, I promise you she’s okay. She’s in your room. She’s probably still asleep.” 

“She needs to know that everything’s alright, Techno!” Tommy protests. He’s looking up and crying at Technoblade now. The four L’Manberg soldiers are silent as they don't know what to do or say. 

Techno tries to ration with Tommy, “So what, you want me to go get her? Bring her out here and show everyone? That’s literally such a bad idea, and you know that.” 

“Just give me my fucking baby, asshole. I’m fucking upset, and I want to hold my baby. I need her to know she’s alright.” Tommy whines. 

It’s not like they can hide it anymore. 

Before anyone can say anything, Techno concedes and goes to another room. After a minute, he emerges, holding a wriggling newborn in his arms. 

“Okay, what the fuck is happening?” Fundy bursts. 

Techno and Tommy ignore the confusion. 

Tommy holds out his arms and cradles the baby in his arms. She fits there like she was always meant to be there. 

“You’re safe, Clementine. We’re safe. It’s okay.” Tommy whispers in between kissing the top of the infant’s head. He’s mostly assuring himself this than he is assuring the baby. Clementine doesn’t mind the affection, though, and happily coos at her dad’s return. 

Once Techno knows that Tommy is calm, he brings his attention back to the failed assassins. 

“So I take it we have questions?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on twitter @thedoctorpants if you want updates on this fic! I'll be tweeting when I post new chapters as well as some behind the scenes of me writing and things. I don't use twitter a whole lot, but I figured it's the best place to hear from me about this and other things I'm writing as I write them. :)


	8. Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAA I SPEEDRAN THIS CHAPTER HOO BOY.
> 
> CHECK THE BOTTOM NOTES PLS

Tommy is distracted cuddling Clementine, and everyone starts talking at once, asking what the fuck is going on. Tommy doesn’t listen. He’s too focused on counting his daughter's toes and fingers, just double-checking they’re all there. She only makes small baby noises in reply. She doesn’t mind.

“Can we go one at a time?” Techno asks. 

“Okay, why the fuck does Tommy have a baby?” Fundy asks.

“Clementine is Tommy’s daughter. Next question?” Techno calmly replies. 

“Wait-whoa whoa. Don’t just say that. What the hell do you mean?” Quackity stands up. 

Techno recounts what Tommy had told him, “Well, from my understanding, Tommy had Clementine in exile. It wasn’t safe for them to stay out there, so he came and found me. They live here now.”

That seemed to be enough explanation for Ranboo as he knelt down next to Tommy and started speaking to the baby. “Oh, aren’t you a sweet baby! Look at how much hair you have. It’s so beautiful!” He smiles. 

“He had a baby in exile?” Fundy asks. 

Techno nods. “He doesn’t talk about that time much, so I don’t pry.” 

“So why did you have a panic attack, Tommy? Was it when we told you everyone thought you were dead? Was it Dream?”

Quackity wasn’t purposefully trying to be insensitive, but Tommy shakes at the mention. 

“I would really rather not talk about it,” He huffs. 

Techno looks at Tommy. “He and Dream had a bad breakup, I think. Clementine is Dream’s daughter, but he’s not around anymore.”

That sends everyone into a bit of a frenzy.

Fundy asks Tommy, “Why would you willingly get with Dream? He’s such an asshole! He broke my heart and didn’t even care, and… he’s a bitch! And you know that! Why would you go through that when you know he’s such a bad person!” Fundy cries. He crosses his arms in fury. Dream was a sensitive subject for Fundy. 

Tommy cowers back at the yelling. In a whisper soft and scared, Tommy replies, “It wasn’t willingly. It wasn’t- I didn’t want it.”

The words may have been soft in volume, but their repercussions are loud. They echo through the room and leave scars on Techno’s ears. 

“Tommy-” the pig hybrid starts. He moves closer to his brother and puts a hand around his shoulder. “Tommy, I-I didn’t know.” 

Tommy wipes a tear. “I know you didn’t, bitch.” 

Tubbo holds his hands to his mouth and turns away. Ranboo follows the president outside. 

“Tubbo? Are you okay?”

Tubbo shakes his head. “I thought losing Tommy, hearing about him dying, I thought would be the worst thing. I-I was the one who sent him out there alone. I was the one who had Dream watch over him. I thought Dream- I thought. He said he’d keep him safe. I trusted him, Ranboo!” 

Tubbo is sniffling wildly and is unable to let the tears stop. 

Ranboo brings his friend into a hug, “You couldn't have known, Tubbo. This isn’t your fault.” 

Tubbo nodded, but he still sniffled into Ranboo’s shoulder. “Let’s meet the baby, okay? I want to keep playing with her. Come back inside.” Ranboo suggests. 

Tubbo wipes his nose in his sleeve and follows the taller boy back inside. 

Tommy is holding up Clementine to Fundy so that she’s close enough to grab his nose. “Quit it! That hurts!” Fundy exclaims.

Tommy laughs wildly at Fundy. Quackity is smiling gently, but he’s lost in thought. Techno is anxiously typing on his communicator. 

“She is seriously too cute, Tubbo!” Ranboo exclaims, “Tommy, how did you get such a cute baby?”

Tommy smiles at the half-enderman, “The cuteness all comes from me. Plus, she has daily cuteness practice.” He turns his attention back to the little baby. “You get plenty of beauty sleep, too. Such a cute face needs all that rest.” 

Tubbo likes babies, sure, but seeing his best friend holding his _own baby_ feels too much like some sort of dream. One year ago, this was the boy would recklessly jump off towers with a water bucket in hand just to show Tubbo a new trick. And now he was a _dad_. He was someone’s dad who always needed him and who would grow up and be her own person, and Tommy would be the one to teach her about the world. It just didn’t make sense. 

“Ranboo, if you wash your hands, I’ll let you hold her,” Tommy suggests. The green and red eyes light up in excitement. 

“Where’s the nearest wash basin?”

Ranboo is very excited to hold Clementine and happily sits on the couch when Tommy hands her over. He’s so happy to have the infant stick her tongue out to him, and he mimics the gesture. 

“Tubbo, look at her. She’s sticking her tongue out!” Ranboo says to the president.

Tubbo smiles for the first time that day. 

Techno puts his communicator down and puts his armor back on. 

“Techno? What are you doing?” Quackity asks.

“Phil’s not answering his communicator,” Techno responds. Unlike the three teenagers who sat on the couch laughing at a baby, he's serious and cold. 

“We put him on house arrest, but we didn’t take away his comm,” Fundy explains. He combs his ears back and rubs his neck. 

“I need to get Phil in L’Manberg. Will you give me permission to do so?” Techno asks. 

“What do you need Phil for, Techno?” Quackity asks. He may not be actively trying to kill Techno, but that didn’t mean he forgave the pig hybrid for his various acts of treason against his country. 

“We have a green bitch to slaughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have fanart made for this AU???? What??? Thank you so much @classycadaver on twitter for the really pretty art it's so poggers. If any other artist or writer wants to do anything for this AU I give you my full permission. Please tag me on twitter I got so excited seeing this fanart already I'll cry. 
> 
> Tomorrow is the week-iversary of this fic. I can't believe we're almost at 1,000 kudos and 10,000 hits just in the first week. I've been so hyperfixated on writing this and I'm so glad so many people are having a good time with me as I just have this moment. You're all far too kind.


	9. Monitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy week-iversary! WooHoo!

Phil finished warning Techno and Tommy and clutched his communicator nervously. He had stopped being able to hear the Butcher Army’s muffled voices from his house, so they were likely approaching the border of L’Manberg right then. 

Phil tried desperately not to freak the fuck out. Surely they wouldn’t hurt a baby, would they? Or Tommy, he was still a child, surely they wouldn’t hurt him. Technoblade was a seasoned fighter and would have no problem fighting them off, Phil assumed. Techno hadn’t fought in a year, though, and these people were clearly training to take him down. 

Anxiety boiled from his toes to his ears, and Phil knew he couldn’t just sit idly by when his family was in danger. 

He had to leave so he could go be with them. 

He immediately was faced with the problem of the ankle monitor his grandson so  _ lovingly _ put on him. It was bulky and too tight, and it would surely trigger some sort of alarm if he tried to go to Technoblade. He could risk it and try to call their bluff that it didn’t work, but that could prove a very dangerous risk. 

Phil decided that the only solution would be to get this damn thing off of him and quick. 

Pulling at it was a bust. It was too tight to really get a good grip on, and being metal only meant he couldn’t break it using brute strength. 

He gazed at his pickaxe in the corner and thought mining at it might be able to do something. It just left weird dents rather than expelling the monitor from his ankle. It wasn’t going to work. 

He managed to wedge the tip of the pickaxe in between his ankle and the monitor. Curiously, Phil tried to wedge it even further. It wasn’t a great feeling but I had managed to loosen the monitor. Success was on the horizon. 

With efforted heaves, Phil managed to pry the ankle monitor off of him. It lay broken and dented on the wooden floor below him. It crackled with electric wires broken, but Phil was relieved beyond expression. 

Now, it’s due time he goes to help his family. 

He tries his best to be sneaky as he exits the house. He’s not far down the wooden pathways when a large horse approaches him with a masked rider. 

Because, of course, he was.

Phil didn’t know anything about Dream and Tommy. Tommy never mentioned anything, and Phil never asked.

“Good afternoon, Phil.” Dream greets as he steps down from his horse. 

“Hi, Dream.” Phil sighs. He doesn’t have time for this. 

“Haven’t seen you around here in a bit, have I?” Dream asks. Phil can’t see his face, but it sounds like he’s smiling. 

Phil shakes his head, “I like to travel. I’ve been out and about. I’m actually on my way right now. I really best be going-”

“Nonsense.” Dream soothes. 

Phil tries to refuse, but Dream blocks his way. 

“Have you heard from Tommy recently?” Dream quizically asks the older man. 

Phil wishes he could hide his facial expression as Dream did. He didn’t want Dream to see the nerves build at the mention of Tommy. 

“Nope, I haven’t seen him mate. Might want to try his campsite out at Logstead.” Phil tries to deflect.

“See, that’s the funny thing,” Dream taps his foot against the ground, impatiently, “I went out there, and he wasn’t there.” 

Phil gulps. 

“People are presuming he’s dead. I jumped off a tower. The rats probably got to his body before I could. It’s really very tragic.” Dream hums. 

Phil tries to act shocked and upset, but he really doesn’t have time for this. 

“You know what’s interesting, though?” Dream asks. 

“Dream, I should go mourn alone. You just told me about my son’s death. Can you leave?”

“You might be able to help me.” Dream exhales. 

“Fine. What is interesting?” 

“This.” Dream says as he holds out a small wooden object. It has a small handle with a circular piece of wooden crudely placed on top. There are beads on a string surrounding the top and make a fun jangle sound when moved. 

It’s just like a baby rattle Wilbur made for Tommy at shop class when Tommy was still small. Wilbur had been so proud of the crude wooden thing, but Phil was worried it was unsafe. He found out later Wilbur would give it to Tommy in secret when Phil wasn’t looking. It was Tommy’s symbol for secrets, in a way. And it was the one thing Tommy had kept with him from when he was really small. 

Now, it must belong to Clementine. 

Phil must have looked like an open book thinking all of these thoughts. 

“Do you recognize this?” Dream asks. He sounds sinister to Phil. 

“Nope. Never seen it before.” Phil tries to lie. 

“Really? Because Ghostbur told me it was a baby rattle. Said you’d remember it. Lots of good memories, he said.”

Phil had a bad feeling about this. 

“Tell me, Philza Minecraft. What was Tommyinnit doing with a  _ baby rattle  _ out in the middle of nowhere?” 

“Well, that like a sentimental, probably missed Wilbur is all.”

“Don’t play stupid, Philza Minecraft.” Dream said. It wasn’t yelling but was still harsh and threatening.

Dream started again, “He had that baby, didn’t he?”

“I don’t understand-” Phil begins. He doesn’t know why he feels so afraid, but he does. 

“He can’t keep that baby, Phil. It’s dangerous.”

“She’s just a little baby. What are you talking about?” Phil asks. 

“So, you do know.” Dream says. 

Phil tries to walk away, but Dream grabs him by the forearm. 

“She, you said? Let me tell you what I told Tommy. That baby is a threat to everyone on the SMP. I’m a savior, really. I’m keeping you safe.”

“She is literally a tiny, helpless little human. What could she possibly do? Be too cute?”

“Demigods are untapped forces of destruction. You did know I’m the god of this realm, didn’t you? My immortal genes aren’t supposed to deal with measly humans like Tommy. That baby could destroy everything with that power. She could hurt you, Phil. She could hurt Tommy.” 

“You’re lying.” Phil huffs. 

“Would I lie to you, Philza Minecraft? Why would I give a fuck?” 

Phil whimpers. 

  
Dream leans in and whispers to the older man, “Phil, listen closely. Where the  _ fuck  _ did Tommy bring that baby?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're having trouble finding this fic it's because I've deleted many of the tags. I really don't like the interactions with antis and I really am not in the mood to deal with CC's and other people so if you've found this you've looked for it. 
> 
> Searching "Clementineinnit" in the searchbar will always bring you here if you don't have a bookmark or subscription. Otherwise, follow my twitter for updates as they come. While you're over there, there is some AMAZING fanart by @littlskyfox and @ _touch_me_not__ so please go support them! 
> 
> I'm going to end this particular fic soon, but I have other ideas for the AU I plan to make oneshots and other multi-chapters. Thank you all for being so supportive, it really means the world to me.


	10. Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for taking so long for an update! Work/School got the better of me this weekend! Hope this chapter can satisfy the thirst for content for a couple of days because I have some more schoolwork to do.

It was decided that Fundy, Quackity, and Techno would go to recruit Phil back at L’Manberg. Techno tasked the teenagers back at the house to brew enough potions for a battle at dawn. 

Ranboo lovingly referred to the split as “Team A” and “Team 1.” According to the enderman, “That way nobody is second. We are both equally important. B and 2 sound inferior to A and 1, so we are Teams A and 1.” 

Nobody was going to argue. Frankly, many of the other people didn’t care about “team names” and conceded to Ranboo’s logic. 

Team A trudged through the muddy woods at dusk. Fundy was drabbling on about nothing in particular. He whistled bird calls as he heard them and recited facts about the wildlife of the wilderness. The other two party members weren’t listening. They were both preoccupied with the inner machinations of their own minds. 

“You’re both particularly quiet,” Fundy observes. 

Techno grunts to himself in agreement. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Fundy inquires to the pig hybrid as he walks backward for a moment to face who he addresses. 

“Tommy.” Techno honestly replies. 

Tommy, however, has other things currently on his mind. He just finished feeding Clem and put her in her cot for some sleep. Now, he was reciting recipes for potions while Ranboo and Tubbo gathered the ingredients from the chests and dropped them into the brewing stands. 

The sun has almost set now, and when Ranboo notices this, he quickly apologizes to Tommy and Tubbo and leaves the room. 

“I need to write in my journal before I forget. Writing helps me remember things from the day. I don’t want to forget today. Excuse me for just a brief moment.”

The tension is palpable without Ranboo there as a buffer. It had been over a year since Tommy and Tubbo last were alone in the same room together. How had the inseparable best friends now feel awkward just existing in silence together?   
  


“Tommy, I want to apologize to you.” Tubbo remarks. 

“Tubbo-” 

“No, I owe you a long-overdue apology. I want to tell you how dreadfully sorry I am that I exiled you. That was a harsh punishment. I didn’t mean for any of this-” Tubbo gestures around them, “to happen. I understand if you won’t forgive me, but I wanted to say my piece.”

Tommy is silent for a moment, “You were acting in the country’s best interest, Tubbo. I can’t be mad at that. Not anymore. I make decisions I don’t like all the time for Clementine’s sake. Moving in here, for instance. I was terrified, but I knew Clem needed safety, and so I left the comfort of Logstead and stumbled upon this place.” 

Tommy sighed, “I don’t blame you for anything, Tubbo. Not anymore, at least. For so long, I was pissed at you. And that’s not fair. You were just trying to protect the country.” 

“Clementine’s lucky to have such a smart dad,” Tubbo smiles as he punches Tommy lightly over the shoulder. Tommy grabs his best friend’s hair and ruffles it with his fists. 

“L’Manberg’s lucky to have such a kind president,” Tommy responds.

Tubbo looks up, “No, I’m serious, Tommy. You’re a really good dad. I think we all could have benefitted from having someone like you growing up. I’m proud of you, Toms.”

As the two close friends embrace in a long-overdue hug, Ranboo returns. 

“What did I miss?”

Meanwhile, Team A has finally reached L’Manberg. Phil’s house is just over the now darkened horizon. The sun is gone, but its light still lingers in the sky. 

The door is left slightly open. This concerns everyone, but what they find inside proves more peculiar. 

Phil isn’t there. 

The house is upsettingly empty. The ankle monitor is broken and damaged on the floor. 

Quackity reasons, “Surely, he couldn’t have gone far.”

They start asking the neighbors where Phil had gone. Niki doesn’t recall even seeing Phil in L’Manberg at all that day. 

“I saw Phil just ten minutes ago, perhaps!”

Of course, the only witness was him.

Fundy groans but accepts the information from his dead father. “Wil, where did he go?” 

The ghost happily smiles at the trio at his doorstep. “Are you playing hide-and-seek? I love that game!”

“Ghostbur, this isn’t a game. We need to find Phil.” Techno calmly requests.

Ghostbur tenses at the serious tone. If there was one thing the amnesiac ghost was not, it was serious. 

“Well, he went off with Dream, I recall.”

Quackity quickly flashes a worried glance at Fundy and Technoblade. The return his concerned expression. 

“Wilbur, you need to tell us exactly where they went.” Quackity demands. His angered tone frightens the ghost. 

“I’ll show you if you like,” Ghostbur concludes. 

And that’s how three very armed and very powerful soldiers get stuck following a ghost skip down the pathways. 

Ghostbur isn’t a very good person at staying on task. He easily gets sidetracked during this quest. Luckily, Fundy is quick to remind him of the urgency of finding Phil, and Ghostbur returns to leading them. 

They arrive at an intimidating large basalt structure. It looms over the surrounding landscape menacingly. 

“This is where Phil is!” Ghostbur explains.

“He’s in  _ prison? _ ” Fundy yells. 

“I reckon Dream wants to give him a tour!” Ghostbur enthuses.

Nobody finds Ghostbur amusing.

“We have to get in.” Techno decides.

“The place is like, impenetrable. Surely we can’t just waltz into this massive Alcatraz!” Quackity argues. 

Ghostbur is already at the door. “Come on! He’s left it open for us.”

Surely they should turn back, but they don’t. Techno follows headfirst to try and rescue Phil, and Quackity and Fundy have no choice but to follow. 

The halls are echo-y and large. If Techno weren’t worried out of his mind, he’d be impressed with the architecture. 

Ghostbur is yelling for Phil. Everyone is trying to quiet the ghost because it was dangerous enough to be here enough without making a scene like that. 

But it’s Ghostbur’s yelling that finds Phil. 

He’s slumped in the corner of a cell. His cheek is bleeding with a thick and fresh-cut. He looks like he just walked through hell.

Phil looks up and is immediately horrified. He stumbles to his feet, and in a strict whisper, scolds the four men. 

“You need to all leave right now.” 

“We’re here to say hell, Phil!” Ghostbur smiles. 

“Phil, we need you. We’re going to fight Dream. Let’s bust you out and kick some ass.” Techno explains. 

Phil can only muster to repeat himself, “You have to go Techno.” 

Techno shakes his head, “I’m not scared of him. Let’s get you out of there.”

“Uhhh, Techno.” Fundy stutters. 

‘Shut up, orphan, I’m trying to pick this lock.”

“Techno….” Fundy repeats again.

Techno whips his head around to see a tall green figure is stood in the doorway. 

“Well, would you look at what the cat dragged in?” Dream drums his fingers impatiently against the helm of his sword. 

Quackity draws his weapon and encourages everyone else to do the same. 

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you all.” Dream soothes. 

“No, Tommy, eh?”

Techno growls. 

Dream begins again, “That’s a shame. I was looking forward to a little, what is it?”

He snaps his fingers, and thunder rumbles through the sky. 

“Family reunion?”

Ghostbur perks up. “I love family reunions!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap was kinda all over the place but hopefully, you can forgive me. Also, I have a ton of comments I haven't responded to so if you're waiting on that I'm sorry I'll be doing that later on tonight! :D


	11. Swords

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had more I was gonna put in this chap but I left it for a killer finale to this arc in the next chapter, so you're welcome.

Team 1 was apprehensive about leaving the cabin upon Phil’s ominous request, but they decided that it was best to go if Phil needed their help. Clementine was neatly wrapped to Tommy’s chest, and Ranboo packed the bag of potions. Tubbo gathered swords, and they were ready for whatever. 

Techno wants to grab his comm and tell Tommy to turn back, but Dream is a step ahead of him. It’s like he can read Techno’s mind. 

“You won’t get any connection down here. We’re in a jail cell. There’s literally no way comm signals reach these walls. You can try; it won’t go through, though.” Dream argues. 

Quackity fiercely types on his communicator to confirm this. Sure enough, the chat just sends an error message in reply. 

“I’ve thought about everything. I’m 100 steps ahead of you at any given moment.” Dream says as he paces the hard ground. 

Techno is filled with unbridled rage. He screams, submits to the voices, and runs up and stabs Dream in the chest.

Dream chokes and gags as he keels over. Blood stains the purple sword, and Dream falls to the ground with a thud. 

_ Dream was slain by Technoblade using [Orphan Obliterator] _

Ranboo reads the message pop up on his communicator. Tommy stares at it, too. 

“Maybe they don’t need our help anymore!” Ranboo smiles. 

Tommy stops dead in his tracks. 

He blinks, and suddenly he’s back at Logstead. He’s laying on the beach heaving dry, tears running our hours ago. He’s just learned he’s pregnant, and he’s devastated. 

The nether portal wooshes softly. Tommy rubs his eyes and gets up to greet his visitor. 

It’s the last person he wants to see. 

It’s Dream.

“I don’t mean to interrupt your sob session, Tommy, but I need a favor.”

Tommy doesn’t respond. He subconsciously holds his midsection with his right hand and scuffs the sand with his foot. 

“Oh, Tommy, what’s wrong? You love doing favors for me. This is a fun one, I promise.” Dream soothes. He sounds so gentle that Tommy wants to melt into him. But Tommy knows better than that now. He knows the soft voice and kind words aren’t real. They’re how he can control Tommy. 

Tommy sniffles in reply. 

“Tommy.” Dream says. He’s more commanding this time, which makes Tommy flinch back. 

Tommy feels the words come out of his mouth before he can stuff them back down his throat. It was an accident, telling Dream. He wanted to deal with this quietly.

“You’re what?” Dream sneers. He’s angry now, and Tommy can feel the air change. 

Tommy gulps. “Please don’t hurt me.”

Dream steps closer to Tommy. Tommy winces in response. “You’re joking.”

Tommy shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care if you’re sorry. If you’re really pregnant, you have to get rid of it. Now.” Dream demands. The harsh tone frightens Tommy, but he again speaks without his brain telling him to. 

“What if I don’t want to?”

“What if you don’t-You surely can’t think about having a baby! You’re sixteen, Tommy. You’re living in a fucking tent. You have no family to help you. You’re all alone. Trust me that isn’t what you want.” 

“How do you know what I want?” Tommy argues. He’s raised his voice at Dream for the first time since the exile. 

Dream notices the tone grow angrier in Tommy’s voice and grabs Tommy’s shoulders in response. 

“I know you, Tommy. You don’t want a baby. You’re just messing with me. I’m going to bring you a potion. It’s going to take care of our little problem here, and we can forget this ever happened.”

Tommy didn’t know what he wanted. He was so caught up in shock and fear that he’d never considered any option seriously. Perhaps, then, it was spite that motivated the biggest decision in Tommy’s whole life. 

“No.” 

Tommy hadn’t said no to Dream like that before. He was defiant, sure, but never like this. Even when Dream’s favors got more and more uncomfortable for Tommy, the young boy had never fought back like this. 

Dream didn’t take kindly to Tommy’s insubordination. 

He shoved Tommy onto the ground. “No? You’re telling me no?”

Dream knelt down and pressed his hand against Tommy’s chest, preventing him from being able to get up from where he had fallen on his back. 

“You don’t know the forces you’re dealing with here, Tommy. This baby is dangerous for you. I’m the god of this realm. That baby is going to have unimaginable power. The pregnancy alone will likely kill you. If not, then surely the birth. I’m protecting you, Tommy. And you better be grateful to me.”

Dream stood up and faced away. “I don’t have to come to visit you. I don’t have to show you love as I do. I do because I’m a saint. I’m a martyr. I put up with your antics out of the goodness of my heart. I ask you to do one thing. One thing that will  _ help  _ you. And you defy me? Are you stupid?”

Tommy sits up. “I’m not stupid.”

Dream turns back and crouches to be eye-level with Tommy. “Then you’ll drink this potion. And it will get rid of that baby. Do it because I love you. I’m the only one who loves you.”

Some feeling comes over Tommy. Maybe it sees Dream make a vile black potion that Tommy is supposed to drink. Maybe it finally recognizes the months of abuse. Maybe it’s the beginning of a fatherly instinct over the clump of cells he’s hosting. 

Dream motions for Tommy to drink the potion and Tommy stabs him. 

Tommy stabs Dream with a dagger, and Dream keels over and dies. The potion rattles to the floor, and Tommy steps on it. 

And Dream leaves him alone. He never comes back. He knows Dream respawned, but Dream just never showed up again. And Tommy has lived in fear ever since. 

Tommy doesn’t realize he’s sat on the ground having a panic attack until Ranboo manages to soothe him out of the flashback. Tubbo’s taken to holding Clementine awkwardly. He doesn’t know anything about babies, but he’s trying his best. 

Ranboo and Tubbo have concerned looks on their faces. 

“We need to get him to Phil and Techno fast.” Ranboo decides. “Something’s clearly upsetting him.”

Ranboo helps Tommy walk and whispers encouragement. The team finally reach a terrible black building.

“Why did Phil give us coords to Pandora’s Vault?” Tubbo questions. Ranboo and Tubbo share a concerned look between them. Some conversation is happening in their eyes that Tommy can’t understand. They must have come to an agreement, though, because they turn to face Tommy after a few seconds. 

“We should turn back,” Tubbo confesses. 

“Nonsense.” A voice echo from a distance. They all turn to see a familiar mask approaching from the entrance of the prison. 

“The party’s just begun.” 

Tommy winces and feels like he’s going to faint.

“Ah! I see you’ve brought the guest of honor.” Dream mentions. He’s closer now, but Tommy is immobilized in terror. 

  
“I’ve heard so much about you already. It’s nice to meet you,  _ Clementine. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Need more Clementine? Don't worry! The next chapter is the last of this arc I've got planned, but I'm working on some more installations to this series in the future! Right now, I've set up a one shot book where I'm taking requests on stories you want to see in the future! (Twitter saw it first). I also have some ideas for multi-chaps that I would like to try, but I set out to tell this particular story first and I'm going to leave it where I had originally planned the ending. Stay tuned for updates on this AU, and I can't wait to show you what happens next! Agh!


	12. Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has not been proofread yet, so just bear with me. I wanted to get this out before I went to work today, so I won't get to polish this nicely for a few hours. Hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Dream’s voice cuts Tommy’s heart like a knife. He’d suppressed the feeling for so long, but seeing him draw his attention to Clem made Tommy seethe with emotion. 

He hadn’t been honest about how much Dream hurt him, physically and mentally. He wasn’t honest to Techno, to Phil, to himself even. 

Clementine wiggles uncomfortably in Tubbo’s arms. Dream approaches the baby, and Tommy’s immobility is suddenly overcome by the need to protect Clem from the one person who hurt him the most. He never wanted Clem to feel that hurt and pain. 

Dream gets one finger on Clementine’s blonde hair before Tommy shoves him away with a guttural scream. It’s deafening and primal. It’s piercing and violent. The scream echoes through the trees and scares some birds out of them. 

Dream’s carefully calculated stare is frazzled. He’s thrown off his rhythm. Clementine is started by the loud noise and begins to cry. The sound hurts Tommy somewhere deep in his soul. 

Tommy’s scream is heard in the depths of the prison. It’s much fainter, but Phil immediately recognizes the sound. It’s what he’d heard when Tommy was little and got hit by a zombie playing outside too late. It was his little boy screaming. 

Techno, Quackity, and Fundy have managed to break Phil out in the time it took Dream to respawn and walk back to the prison. The others don’t hear Tommy’s scream, or if they do, it doesn’t register. But Phil is quick to his feet and running toward the sound of voices talking and a baby crying. He doesn’t know he’s running until he feels his chest ache from frantic breaths. Techno, Quackity, and Fundy are quick behind him. They don’t know why they’re running, but they can keep up the pace.

Quackity diverges from following Phil up the stairs. 

“I need to get something important. I’ll be right back.” He assures before taking a sharp left out of the door and running at an alarmingly fast speed. 

Techno doesn’t hear quackity. He’s focused on the sight of Tommy holding Clem and quickly wrapping her back on him while Tubbo and Ranboo dangerously point swords at the tall masked man before them. 

Dream isn’t even looking at Tubbo and Ranboo. His gaze is on Tommy and Clem and them alone. “Do you remember that night, Tommy?”

Tommy shifts uncomfortably. “I don’t think I can forget it.”

Dream readjusts his mask. “Then you’ll remember that I warned you about this. Tommy. I told you she’s dangerous. Demigods can’t control their powers. They’re unstable. She could hurt you by accident. Do you want that?”

Tommy whimpers. “She’s not like you. She’ll never be like you. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I can’t trust you would do that, Tommy. You killed me that day. For all I know, you’re training her to kill me, too. You never drank that potion as I asked. How can I trust your word?” 

Tubbo and Ranboo are utterly confused, to say the least. They’re getting a lot of information all at once. 

Tommy doesn’t think about his actions. He kicks Dream in between the legs. “Take my word on this, asshole!” He yells. 

It’s definitely a bad idea because Dream doesn’t move for a minute. Tommy thinks that maybe Dream will give up, but he knows inside that he wouldn’t. Dream’s mask starts to glow a little as he rises. 

Clementine is still wailing. Dream hovers toward her. Ranboo and Tubbo try to defend, but their swords are flung to the ground with a movement of Dream’s hand. 

“Don’t cry, Clementine. Your father is here.” 

Tommy spits on Dream, but Dream doesn’t flinch. 

Tommy brings her closer to him and doesn’t let Dream touch her. Dream seems angry about this, though his mask still hides his true emotions. 

“Tommy.” Dream begins, “You’re going to listen here, and you’re going to listen well. I’m going to take Clem and bring her far away. We can’t trust that she won’t try to kill everyone. It’ll be easier if you just forget she ever even existed. She’ll be happy, and then you can be happy.”

Tommy shakes his head in response. His eyes are brimming with tears as he walks backward from Dream. 

Dream notices this hesitance and stops Tommy. He leans into Tommy and whispers to him.

“Tommy. You’re going to listen here, and you’re going to listen well. I’m going to take Clem and bring her far away. We can’t trust that she won’t try to kill everyone. It’ll be easier if you just forget she ever even existed. She’ll be happy, and then you can be happy.”

Tommy shoves Dream back. “I won’t let you take her,” He cries. He can’t stop his tears anymore. 

“Don’t lie to me, Tommy. I see right through you. You’re exhausted. You’re sleep-deprived. You get dysphoric every single time you feed her. You had nine months of hell when you were pregnant. Don’t try to tell me now that you wouldn’t go back to your old life if you could? If I take her, you can pretend like this was all just a bad nightmare. You can forget everything.”

“It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen you. Everything’s different now.” Tommy assures Dream. 

“It’s not. I came to visit once. A few days after you so rudely killed me. I was going to make you apologize, but I saw that empty potion bottle on the jukebox and figured you’d drank it. And I saw you again from the shadows. You didn’t even seem to be showing. I thought you did it, Tommy.”

Tommy gulps. He didn’t know this. 

“Do you know what happens to people who lie, Tommy?” 

Dream draws his sword and goes to strike Tommy. Techno runs and blocks the strike, getting a nasty cut that starts on his arms and down to his stomach. It stains his clothes red, and he gasps. 

Phil, Fundy, Tubbo, and Ranboo aim their swords at Dream. 

Phil strikes Dream, and his mask cracks and falls away. Dream is thrown off his balance, but he soon is back on his feet. His eyes are cold and glowing, and he frowns heavily. 

“What did I tell you all? I’m not here for you. I’m here for Tommy and the baby. You could give us some privacy. This is a family matter.” Dream sneers. 

“Phil is holding Techno’s wound, but he shoots up a look of distaste to Dream. “We’re their real family. Tommy and that baby, we’re their family. You don’t have that right.”

  
  


Dream levitates toward Phil. It’s terrifying. His creative mode abilities aren’t often used, but they’re intimidating, to say the least. 

“I told you not to get involved with matters you don’t understand. I really didn’t want to have to kill you all. It’d be a real shame. But I’m not playing games.” Dream’s voice distorts. 

Phil isn’t sure what Dream is going to do next, but he doesn’t need to know. Suddenly, he’s shot in the back with an arrow. He glitches out and twitches as he plummets back to the ground. 

Tommy looks to see where the arrow came from. 

Big Q has returned, and he’s not alone. He’s brought an army of people armed with weapons and whatever armor they could find laying around. 

Sapnap has a bow and arrow pointed to where Dream just was. He’s holding gray sparkling arrows.

“Back off, Dream.” He hisses. 

Dream stands up shakily to face the army that’s come to protect Tommy and Clementine. Until about 20 minutes ago, most of these people didn’t even know of Clementine’s existence. Even still, Quackity had managed to convince them that it was in their common interest to stop Dream from hurting her. 

Dream laughs. “You all couldn’t kill me if you tried.” 

Ponk brandishes his ax. “We’re not going to kill you, then.”

Fundy and Ranboo manage to tackle Dream to the ground, where he now thrashes unwillingly. He tries to glow again, but he glitches out. 

“These weakness arrows should keep you from willingly shifting into Creative for a few more minutes. And that’s all we’re going to need.” Punz explains.

Dream gets tied with metal chains and escorted back inside the prison. The SMP has made a pact that he will stay in there for a very long time for Clementine’s safety. 

Tommy cries. A month and a half ago, when he was first holding Clementine in his arms, he would never have imagined this. The amount of support everyone had given him was overwhelming. 

Clementine seemed to calm down from the ordeal in the hours that followed, and was happily being adored by the dozen new people first meeting her. Tommy won’t let anyone hold her. He’s in too much shock to let anyone touch her. He feels very possessive over making sure he’s safe. It takes years for Tommy to loosen the reins he holds as a helicopter parent. Letting her go is something he never wants to do, but he eventually relinquishes the baby to Phil when he is too exhausted to keep his eyes open. 

Techno recovers from his wound slowly, and it leaves a nasty scar. He doesn’t seem to mind because it’s a scar he can be proud of. Unlike his other battle scars, this long diagonal mark symbolizes that he protected the people he loved: his family. 

Dream spends his first few days in prison fighting back, but eventually, he seems to settle into his new life. He has the occasional visitor, but he is alone like Tommy was in exile for the most time. It’s a bitter turn of fate. 

Tommy won’t let Clementine in any proximity of the vault, but that only increases her curiosity. 

Tommy wakes up the morning after Dream’s imprisonment to the smell of french toast. It takes him a moment to realize, but he’s in Phil’s house in L’Manberg. 

He runs down the stairs hurriedly like a kid on Christmas morning. Phil’s holding Clementine as she grabs at his hair. She seems very happy despite what transpired not very long ago. Tommy rubs his eyes to see that Niki is making toast in Phil’s house. 

“Look who’s up!” Techno motions. He’s bandaged along his entire torso and right arm, but he’s sat up in a comfortable chair. 

“We’ve made you breakfast,” Niki motions to a hot plate of delicious cinnamon goodness. 

Tommy feels his shoulders relax ever so slightly. After 10 and a half months of anxiety and loneliness, he finally feels a sense of calm. Even at Techno’s, he was always worried about Dream’s threats. He was always worried that Techno and Phil would turn away from him if they found out the truth about Clementine. About her not being entirely human. About her being  _ dangerous _ . 

An unfamiliar sense of peace starts to brew. It’s small, but it’s there. 

Tommy picks up the plate and smiles at the chef. A single tear forms as he speaks. 

“Thank you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on a sequel as we speak! Don't worry! The prologue for it will be up shortly. While you check that out, look at the oneshots I'm writing randomly as I find the time and energy! 
> 
> Also I literally had planned that everyone would show up and imprison Dream since early January, so watching the season 2 finale was so wacky because I had already written this plot point and I was like OH MY GOD DO THEY HAVE ACCESS TO MY GOOGLE DOCS???? Lol so that was funny.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the first installment of the Clementine AU. I'm going to be fixing mistakes and plotholes in the next few days, so the story may look every so slightly different. We'll see! I love you all and thank you for sticking with me through this journey! I'll see in you all hopefully in part 2!
> 
> Update: Join the discord for updates and to hang out!


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